So, it looks like there is one rule for certain sellers and another for the rest.
The duplicate listing policy states that you are not allowed to have multiple listings for the same product, sell it on multiple accounts, or split the listing into separate ones. For example, if you sell the same T-shirt in different colours, it is meant to be on the same listing as variations, not multiple listings.
Nearly two years ago, a new seller appeared with multiple listings of the same product I had sold thousands of. When I investigated further, I discovered that the seller also had another shop that had been selling this product for even longer. However, because they charged double what other sellers charged, it went unnoticed by me—it wasn’t competition due to the very high pricing. I was the top seller for this product in the UK for two years. I understand that competition is competition, but this is dirty. I play by eBay’s rules, and I get screwed over for it.
Every few days, more listings would pop up for the same product. In the end, it added up to 200+ duplicates for the same product in multiple colours. Nearly every single listing in the search results was from this one seller alone. For example, the item in black was on 10 listings, red was on 9 listings, and this pattern continued with other colours. The total I counted last year was 201 duplicate item ids of this one item alone. At the time, there were over 100 listings, but I believe the number is closer to 200 now. They also do this with every other product but not to this extent.
I contacted eBay via support chat and reported the seller using the ‘Report a Seller’ tool. Nothing was done—but that was to be expected because, in my experience, the overseas support team is usually pretty bad. They just say they’ll fix the issue and try to get you off the phone or chat.
I left it for a month or two, as sometimes these things take time. eBay also states that multiple reports can slow down an investigation, so I gave them time—but nothing happened.
Every single rep has told me that this seller is blatantly breaking the rules and abusing this policy, but I should still get sales because duplicate listings are supposed to be filtered out. Is this the case? No, it’s not.
I have followed eBay’s rules because it was my sole income. I kept every colour of this item on a single listing and only used one account, unlike this seller.
I contacted eBay via chat and phone, and they passed it on to the investigations team—nothing was done.
I later contacted eBay via Facebook, and they passed it on to the investigations team—nothing was done.
I spent hours compiling a spreadsheet of every single item ID, organised them (e.g. black item with their respective eBay listing numbers), and sent it to the UK head office. They were very helpful and confirmed that this seller was not allowed to do what they were doing. I actually had hope. They passed it on to the investigations team—nothing was done.
Even the UK-based Executive Escalations Team agreed with me, saying that this seller should not be doing this. They reviewed my list, passed it on to the investigations team—nothing was done.
I even raised it in the weekly chat, and they confirmed that what this seller is doing is not allowed on eBay.
Starting to notice a trend?
I have had plenty of sleepless nights and foodless days over this my clothes no longer fit me and i have no money to even buy new clothes because of this whole situation. It has actually ruined my business to the point where I have not even been able to afford to eat. I had to get a full-time job just to be able to afford to live because of how bad this situation has become. The investigations team has done nothing.
This was my best-selling product, and this seller does this with all their listings—but nothing to the extent of this single product. Because I had thousands of sales, they are trying to block me out using these scummy methods. They sell on one store to break even and then use another store to sell at double the price. Out of around 200 listings, nearly every single one is from this seller. How is anyone meant to compete with that? If I did the same, I could lose my entire store.
I even had to increase my promoted listing fees just to try and put food on the table for me and my family, as my sales slowed down. I cannot compete with 100+ listings for the same product. I even asked Executive Relations if I could do the same as this seller, and they told me they would take action against me for it.
I cannot afford to risk my store—I have been selling on eBay for a few years, and my family depends on it. That is why I am not mentioning the specific product, the seller names, or using my business account to post this.
I have noticed multiple stores selling this product closing, probably because of this situation with this particular seller. So why are eBay not taking action against them? What is the investigations team actually doing? Because, to me, it doesn’t look like there even is one at this point.
Complaining to eBay is my only option. If I did the same as this seller, I could lose the entire store I have spent years building.
I kept being told that eBay is meant to be a fair and safe marketplace, but is that the case? No, obviously not.
This post is to share my experience with eBay and how this seller, along with eBay’s incompetence, is currently destroying my business and now I'm making this situation public for everybody to see.
Hopefully, the same does not happen to you—but it could. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
